Poland is frontline in EU battle with tobacco smugglers
Monday, 10 May 2010
BEZLEDY, Poland, May 9 (AFP): The chocolate-brown labrador plunges into the car, scratching wildly, before a customs officer sets to work with a screwdriver and torch.
Minutes later, the officer wrenches apart an underfloor cache, pulls out a carton wrapped in black plastic and cuts it open to reveal 10 packets of cigarettes.
Bezledy is a Polish border crossing with Russia's Baltic territory of Kaliningrad.
It is also on the front line in a battle against contraband cigarettes, which experts say now account for around 13 per cent of sales in the European Union.
"We stop around five or a maximum 10 per cent of vehicles," said watch commander Mariusz Kuzia.
"Above all it's based on risk analysis. For example, a person's travel history. We have systems that log licence plates.”
Minutes later, the officer wrenches apart an underfloor cache, pulls out a carton wrapped in black plastic and cuts it open to reveal 10 packets of cigarettes.
Bezledy is a Polish border crossing with Russia's Baltic territory of Kaliningrad.
It is also on the front line in a battle against contraband cigarettes, which experts say now account for around 13 per cent of sales in the European Union.
"We stop around five or a maximum 10 per cent of vehicles," said watch commander Mariusz Kuzia.
"Above all it's based on risk analysis. For example, a person's travel history. We have systems that log licence plates.”